The Brutalist, Conclave Top List of Houston Film Critics Society Awards

The Brutalist – director Brady Corbet’s Golden Globe-winning examination of post-World War II America – leads the pack with nine nominations, including Best Picture, for the 18th annual awards from the Houston Film Critics Society. (In the interest of full disclosure: I am a founding and voting member of this organization.) Closely following with eight nominations, including Best Picture: Conclave, the critically acclaimed papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes. 

Three films are nominated in six categories including Best Picture: Sean Baker’s outrageous comedy Anora, director Denis Villeneuve’s continuation of Paul Atreides’ ascension to power in Dune: Part Two, and Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked.

Other films competing for Best Picture are A Complete Unknown, an overview of Bob Dylan's early career; Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel; A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg’s study of a complex relationship between cousins; Sing Sing, a tribute to the impact of creative arts on prison life; and The Substance, a satirical view of the challenges of aging.

“2024 was such an odd cinema year and yet the range of our nominees continues to remind us that art, commerce, and the diversity of both is what allows film to thrive,” says HFCS president Travis Leamons. “If you would have told me body horror [The Substance] could be as beloved as a Bob Dylan biopic at the start of the year, I’d say you’re mad. But leave it to our members to keep audiences informed about what movies can say. The fact we can recognize small character stories, giant studio spectacle, and a thriller where papal guidance is suggested is exciting.”

All winners will be announced by the Society on Jan. 14, 2025.

An annual highlight of the HFCS awards is the presentation of the Texas Independent Film Award honoring outstanding films made in the Lone Star State. This year’s nominees explore a complex relationship between a forgotten music star and a delivery driver in Deliveries from Eva; a former YouTube star trying to find her place in an unfriendly world in The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia; a rapper’s journey into himself and his music in Lost Soulz; the inside story of Houston’s storied 101 KLOL in Runaway Radio; and the impact of the city’s Black music scene in When Houston Had the Blues.

Here is a full list of nominees for the 18th annual Houston Film Critics Society Awards.

Best Picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Nickel Boys

A Real Pain

Sing Sing

The Substance

Wicked

 

Best Director

Anora, Sean Baker

The Brutalist, Brady Corbet

Conclave, Edward Berger

Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve

The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

Wicked, Jon M. Chu

 

Best Actor – Leading Role

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist

Colman Domingo, Sing Sing

Hugh Grant, Heretic

Ralph Fiennes, Conclave

Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown

 

Best Actress – Leading Role

Angelina Jolie, Maria

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked

Demi Moore, The Substance

Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths

Mikey Madison, Anora

 

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Yura Borisov, Anora

 

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Ariana Grande, Wicked

Felicity Jones, The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

Margaret Qualley, The Substance

Zoë Saldaña, Emilia Perez

 

Best Screenplay

Anora, Sean Baker

The Brutalist, Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

Conclave, Peter Straughan

Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg

Sing Sing, Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar

 

Best Animated Feature

Flow

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

 

Best Cinematography

The Brutalist, Lol Crawley

Conclave, Stéphane Fontaine

Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser

Nickel Boys, Jomo Fray

Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke

 

Best Documentary

Daughters

No Other Land

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Sugarcane

Union

Will & Harper

 

Best Foreign Language Feature

All We Imagine As Light

Emilia Pérez

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

I’m Still Here

Kneecap

 

Best Original Score

The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg

Challengers, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Conclave, Volker Bertelmann

Dune: Part Two, Hans Zimmer

Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol

The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers

 

Best Original Song

Challengers, Compress / Repress

Emilia Pérez, El Mal

Sing Sing, Like a Bird

The Wild Robot, Kiss the Sky

Will & Harper, Harper and Will Go West

 

Best Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus

Dune: Part Two

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Nosferatu

Twisters

Wicked

 

Best Stunt Coordination Team

Deadpool & Wolverine

Dune: Part Two

The Fall Guy

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Gladiator II

 

Best Ensemble Cast

Anora

The Brutalist

Conclave

Saturday Night

Sing Sing

Wicked

 

Texas Independent Film Award

Deliveries from Eva

The Ego Death of Queen Cecilia

Lost Soulz

Runaway Radio

When Houston Had the Blues

Happy 129th Birthday to Cinema!

On December 28, 1895, cinema in projected form was presented for the first time to a paying audience by two French brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumiere (pictured above), owners of a photographic studio in Lyons. They went to Paris to demonstrate their cinématographe -- the name they'd given their combination camera and projector -- by showcasing short films they had shot with their hand-cranked innovation.

According to legend: At the Grand Café at 14 Boulevard des Capucines, a man stood outside the building all day on December 28, handing out programs to passers-by. But cold weather kept many people from stopping. As a result, only 33 tickets were sold for the first show.

When the lights went down that evening in a makeshift theater in the basement of the Grand Café, a white screen was lit up with a photographic projection showing the doors of the Lumiere factory in Lyon. Without warning, the factory doors were flung open, releasing a stream of workers... and, wonder of wonders, everything moved. The audience was stunned.

This first film was entitled La sortie de l'usine Lumière à Lyon (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory). Ten more short scenes followed, each reel roughly 17 meters in length, including Baby's Dinner (kinda-sorta the first home movie by proud parents, later echoed by Spike Lee in Lumiere & Company) and The Sprinkler Sprinkled (arguably the first slapstick comedy, involving a man, his garden hose and a practical joker).

Within a week, with no advertising but word of mouth, more than 2,000 spectators visited the Grand Café each day, each paying the admission price of one franc. The crowds were so huge, police had to be called in to maintain order. The age of cinema had begun. Vive le cinema.

Poor Things Named Best Picture of 2023 by Houston Film Critics Society

The Houston Film Critics Society has given Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ flamboyant fable about a scientifically revivified woman’s search for her identity, top honors in the organization’s 17^th annual awards.

In addition to choosing the critically acclaimed film as Best Picture of 2023, HFCS also named Emma Stone the year’s Best Actress, and honored the movie’s visual effects.\

“In a year full of established directors making new works at a time when audiences rediscovered the joy of going to a cinema,” says Travis Leamons, president of the organization, “our critics favored the weird above all others.”

The Holdovers garnered two awards for acting — one for Paul Giamatti as a teacher examining the impact of isolation, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph as a voice of truth during the instructor’s search. Christopher Nolan was named Best Director for the epic biography Oppenheimer, which also was cited for its cinematography.

Claiming the award for Best Ensemble Cast: The actors in Killers of the Flower Moon – including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone. Chocolate Lizards, a look at a failed actor in Buffalo Gap, won the Texas Independent Film Award for the best movie made in the Lone Star State.

Here's a complete list of 2023 Houston Film Critics Society Award Winners.

Best Picture: Poor Things

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Actor, Leading Role: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Best Actress, Leading Role: Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Actor, Supporting Role: Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Best Actress, Supporting Role: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best Cinematography: Hoyte Van Hoytema, Oppenheimer

Best Documentary Feature: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Best Foreign Language Feature: The Zone of Interest

Best Original Score: Robbie Robertson, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Original Song: “I’m Just Ken,” Barbie

Best Visual Effects: Poor Things

Best Stunt Coordination Team: John Wick: Chapter 4

Best Ensemble Cast: Killers of the Flower Moon

Texas Independent Film Award: Chocolate Lizards

(In the interest of full disclosure: I am a founding and voting member of The Houston Film Critics Society. And while I don’t always agree with my colleagues, I cannot say I am not proud of their willingness to swim against the tide in many categories.)

Barbie and Oppenheimer Lead Nominees for Houston Film Critics Society Awards.

The double-barrel cultural phenomenon known as Barbenheimer —  Greta Gerwin’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer — loomed large in the list of nominees announced Tuesday for the 17^th annual awards from the Houston Film Critics Society (HFCS).

Greta Gerwig’s comic fantasy leads all films with 10 nominations, followed closely with nine nominations for Nolan’s epic biography of the physicist who changed the world. Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese’s exploration of the Osage County murders, and Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos’ outrageous look at a woman’s search for identity – each received eight nominations. All four are nominated for Best Picture of 2023.

Other films competing for the top prize include American Fiction, a seriocomic examination of Black literature and identity; Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, a girl’s journey adjusting to a new community; The Color Purple, the film adaptation of the Broadway musical from Alice Walker’s novel; Godzilla Minus One, an homage to traditions of sci-fi thrillers; The Holdovers, a touching visit to personal and academic challenges in the 1970s; and Past Lives, a heartbreaking celebration of a distant friendship.

“In a year where audiences rediscovered the magic of returning to theaters, filmmakers were more than happy to deliver some incredible cinema that will be hard to top next year,” says HFCS president Travis Leamons. “For 2023, the films and talent we recognize as a collective organization remind us why while the business of movies have changed, the magic of cinema still charms.”

(In the interest of full disclosure: Yours truly is a founding and voting member of the Houston Film Critics Society.)

Contenders for the Texas Independent Film Award, honoring the best of film made in the Lone Star State, are Bolivar, a young woman’s journey to recover from her mother’s death; Breaking the Code, the work and life of artist Vernon Fisher of Fort Worth; Chocolate Lizards, a failed actor’s next steps in Buffalo Gap; I’ll Be There, people searching for connection in the midst of chaos; and A Town Called Victoria, citizens confronting how they learn to hate.

Winners of the 2023 Houston Film Critics Society awards will be announced Jan. 22.  Here is a complete list of nominees.

 

 

Best Picture

American Fiction

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Barbie

The Color Purple

Godzilla Minus One

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

 

Best Director

Greta Gerwig, Barbie

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Alexander Payne, The Holdovers

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

 

Best Actor – Leading Role

Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Andrew Scott, All of Us Strangers

Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

 

Best Actress – Leading Role

Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Greta Lee, Past Lives

Margot Robbie, Barbie

Emma Stone, Poor Things

 

Best Actor – Supporting Role

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers

 

Best Actress – Supporting Role

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Rosamund Pike, Saltburn

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

 

Best Screenplay

American Fiction, Cord Jefferson

Barbie, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

The Holdovers, David Hemingson

Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan

Past Lives, Celine Song

Poor Things, Tony McNamara

 

Best Animated Film

The Boy and the Heron

Nimona

Robot Dreams

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

 

Best Cinematography

Barbie, Rodrigo Prieto

Killers of the Flower Moon, Rodrigo Prieto

Oppenheimer, Hoyte Van Hoytema

Poor Things, Robbie Ryan

Saltburn, Linus Sandgren

 

Best Documentary Feature

American Symphony

Beyond Utopia

The Eternal Memory

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

20 Days in Mariupol

 

Best Foreign Language Feature

Anatomy of a Fall

Godzilla Minus One

Perfect Days

Society of the Snow

The Zone of Interest

 

Best Original Score

The Boy and the Heron, Joe Hisaishi

Killers of the Flower Moon, Robbie Robertson

Oppenheimer, Ludwig Göransson

Poor Things, Jerskin Fendrix

Spider-Man, Across the Spider-Verse: Daniel Pemberton

 

Best Original Song

“Dance the Night” from Barbie

“I'm Just Ken” from Barbie

“Keep It Movin'” from The Color Purple

“Meet in the Middle” from Flora and Son

“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie

 

Best Visual Effects

The Creator

Godzilla Minus One

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Poor Things

 

Best Stunt Coordination Team

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Iron Claw

John Wick: Chapter 4

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Polite Society

 

Best Ensemble Cast

Barbie

The Holdovers

The Iron Claw

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

 

Texas Independent Film

Bolivar

Breaking the Code

Chocolate Lizards

I’ll Be There

A Town Called Victoria